Rapids

The Heroes of Fannen-Dar, Chapter 25

Mertav grinned as he paddle the raft after the escaped prisoners. True, the situation did not turn out how the chieftain had first described it, but this was so much more interesting! He would paddle the best he’d ever paddled and impress the chief.

They rowed towards the rapids, and the raft lurched when it hit the rough waters. Mertav let out a shrill laugh. The others on the raft weren’t having as much fun.

“To the side, there’s rocks!”

“Faster, we’re losing ‘em-”

“-gotta turn back, we won’t make it-”

“Slice! Dice! Twice! Thrice!”

The raft tumbled through the tunnel, but Mertav kept an eye on the prisoners. They thought they could just barge into their home, not die, kill some of the clan (though Mertav had to admit he never liked Riba), and then steal their sinky boat? Not on his watch! Mozak grabbed his shoulder.

“Push us towards that cranny!” he shouted over the roar of the river. “We have to get off before we get dragged under!” Mertav hesitated and lifted the oar out of the water.

Zad pushed Mozak, who staggered to the back of the raft. Zad brandished her jagged knife. “No! We turn back now, we lose them! They get more people down here, then we die! We gotta kill ‘em first!” Mertav nodded excitedly and continued paddling.

“We don’t need to catch ‘em to kill ‘em!” Piece of Work (Mertav didn’t know his name, but he was known for being a real piece of work, so that’s what Mertav called him in his head) said from the front of the raft. “Get me some more pebbles to shoot!”

“We’re all out!” Mozak said. He was holding onto the raft’s mast, but turned his bag upside to show that it was empty.

Piece of Work shouted in frustration. “Then I’ll throw you!” he lunged back at Mozak, and Mertav jumped out of the way while they fought on the floor. The raft started to spin, and bumped against the side of the tunnel. Mertav and Zad managed to grab hold, but Mozak and Piece of Work rolled off into the water. Mertav yelped as he saw Mozak thump into a boulder in the middle of the tunnel. Zad quickly grabbed the oar from Mertav.

“What are you doing?! You’re going to let them get away!” she screamed. She started rowing furiously, increasing the speed of the raft so much that it started jumping whenever the tunnel dipped lower.

“Whoa,” Mertav said, “Zad, you’re gonna make us-”

“Shut up! I’m steering this thing now.”

“But we’re heading straight for-”

“We’s gonna make ‘em pay! No more stupids walking through our tunnels!”

“But look, up ahead, there’s-”

“No one’s gonna call me the dumb one any more…”

“If you don’t watch out we’ll hit that-”

“Would you shut up?!”

“ROCK!”

Zad was about to punch Mertav, but looked ahead just in time to see the boulder that the raft smashed against, sending the goblins plunging into the depths of the rapids.

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Chapter 26, Chance >>